Healthcare workers continue to be at risk of exposure to
blood-borne viruses through occupational sharps injuries, with reported
cases increasing, Public Health England (PHE) has warned in a damning
report.

This is despite awareness of the risk of sharps injuries, safe
practices being much more widespread, and the fact safety-engineered
devices to prevent such injuries are now widely available, it has added.

In its latest report on exposures to a blood-borne virus (BBV),
PHE said cases reported had increased among healthcare workers from
373 in 2004 to 496 in 2013.

The updated Eye of the Needle report, which
was first published in 2012, found that, over this 10-year period,
approximately 30% of exposures involved a source patient infected with
HIV; 54% involved hepatitis C (HCV) and 9% hepatitis B (HBV).